Category: Social Media Marketing

As a nonfiction author, you’re an expert on a topic—be it health care, personal finance, or neuroscience. This is what sets you apart from others and makes your blog posts more interesting. From time to time, it’s important to offer your readers a different perspective for the content you write—so you are not predictable or promotional. Here are four ways you can make your content more intriguing.

1.Offer expert critique of the hottest issue in the news if you are qualified. Alternatively, you can amplify what someone else is saying about the issue. The Ebola virus has become a major health concern and one that transcends borders. If you’re in health care, write about how to not catch viruses in general or clarify any myths about Ebola.

2. Show readers parts of the profession/work you do that they don’t know about. If you’re an expert don’t repeat the advice people get everywhere; write about topics that only you would know about from experience. For example, if you’re a venture capitalist, what do you observe about entrepreneurs in their closed-door meetings and pitches that people don’t see? If you’re a financial planner, what are some of the situations clients bring you that are most common? Think about what you see or know and offer these insights in a post.

3. Make a “best of” list. Nobody has the time to read everything, which is why “best of” lists are popular; they winnow down content into bites of information. Plus, they are fun and interesting. Think about ways you can simplify the universe of information on your topic and come up with recommendations—“5 Best Movies on Finance and Wall Street” or “5 Best Business Memoirs” or “10 Worst Book Jackets.”

4. Ask other experts in your field or a related one to write a guest post on your blog. Guest posting is one of the most underutilized but effective ways to offer your readers a different perspective on an issue. Inviting an expert or two to guest blog will spur your own thinking and help you reach a wider audience (by asking your guest blogger to share the content with their networks).

On my last post I talked about how first-time authors should use social media to build awareness about themselves and their work. But what about the rest of you who are advanced bloggers, Twitter users and the like? You should step it up to the next level.

This article in Mashable talks about the creative and sophisticated ways some authors are using digital and social platforms to tell stories, connect with audiences and promote their work. While these ideas make sense for authors with well-established followings and readership in fiction, first-time authors can also get some inspiration. I especially liked the idea of posting or tweeting about a variety of subjects—focusing not only on your book but also on topics that you are passionate and knowledgeable about and causes your involved in. The key being: take the time to be interesting and thoughtful.

Chances are once you’ve published new content to your website, you automatically update your other social media platforms to reach friends and fans: you send out a tweet, update your Pinterest and LinkedIn accounts, share on Google+, and post to Facebook. What you may not know is the new content you just posted on Facebook will not automatically appear on your friends or fans’ newsfeeds. In fact, your content will reach smaller number of fans than before. If you want to ensure reaching all your fans, it will be at a cost.

In the good old days it was a given that your posts would appear in your fans’ newsfeeds (where people spend the majority of their time) but according to Facebook, the onslaught of content has increased competition for what is limited space. Over the past six months, Facebook changed its algorithm; now, fewer fans are reading your content in their newsfeeds.

There is no doubt that Facebook is an important tool for authors. It’s where you can generate “Likes” for your work, comment on posts, and interact with your fans. But with these new changes, you’ll have to decide whether it’s the right social distribution channel for you. Our recommendation? Your blog or website should be your top priority for three reasons:

1) you are in complete control of the site

2) your content is searchable on the world wide web

3) you can build your email marketing list by capturing the name and email addresses of people who read your content.

If you use other social media channels to reach your audience then by all means continue to maintain your presence on these sites—including your Facebook page. Every social networking tool has a purpose; you have to determine which one(s) suits you and where you want to invest your time. Just remember driving traffic to your website should be your main objective.

Big Fish Media is chronicling author Susan Price in a series of posts as she navigates the world of self-publishing. We follow the choices she faces, the decisions she makes, and the challenges she encounters in all areas, including research, production, and marketing. We’ll also offer tips, resources, and insights about self-publishing.

By Sarita Venkat

Susan is in the home stretch of completing her manuscript. As an expert on the topic of family philanthropy (she’s been immersed in the field for 15 years), Susan is writing a book titled Generous Genes: Raising Caring Kids in a Digital Age, which builds upon her 2001 book The Giving Family. Generous Genes will reflect the way kids are using technology as a tool in their giving. She started writing her book in earnest in early 2013; countless hours of research later, along with more than 100 interviews, and nearly half the words toward her goal of having a 60,000 word manuscript by February 1, 2014.

But, similar to the conundrum many writers face, it’s been challenging to keep up the writing momentum and find the time to promote her yet-to-be-published book (she’s also accepted a few paid consulting opportunities; while enticing when she’s getting no advance for her book, they have added a further wrinkle to her already tight schedule).

Publicity is critical at all stages of the self-publishing process so it’s never too early to promote your tome. As someone who has traveled the traditional publishing route with her previous titles, Susan will miss having a publicity department supporting her new book. (“Even though people complain that they didn’t get much help from the marketing folks, they still do some things for the author.”)

For example, Susan took advantage of the 2013 holiday season to generate buzz for her book by talking about how to raise compassionate children and encourage their giving activities.

Participating in a Google Hangout: Susan was invited to participate in a Google Hangout (a video chat) hosted by #GivingTuesday.org. #GivingTuesday is a campaign to create a national day of giving to celebrate and encourage charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations. The idea behind #GivingTuesday is that it follows Thanksgiving (a day of thanks) and Black Friday and Cyber Monday (two days for deals).

Giving the Keynote Address at a Fundraising Luncheon: Susan spoke about the book’s subject at a recent fundraising lunch for the Phoenix Children’s Museum.

Headlining a Webinar for an Interest Group of the Young Presidents’ Organization: Through education and idea exchange, YPO has a membership of business leaders in more than 120 countries. Approximately 40 people watched Susan during the webinar.

Susan also has multiple invitations to guest blogs for various websites. She’s currently weighing the ones to spend time on, which, while important, will take away from her other writing.

So, what’s next on Susan’s to-do list? She confesses to being a novice on social media but opened a Twitter account at https://twitter.com/SCritesPrice so you can follow her updates and ideas.

Key Takeaway: As a self-publisher, it’s best to start promoting your book before you have a finished manuscript in your hands. What promotional tactics are you using to spread the word?

In our latest post, we shared three out of six steps many of the most engaging effective author websites have in common. In part two, we provide three more. I’d love to hear your ideas about what we missed!

4) Hosting a Dynamic Blog: Websites with a built in blog get 55 percent more traffic than websites without a blog. While that’s a compelling argument to have a blog our recommendation is to only maintain one if it’s updated at a minimum once a week—if not more. A good blog should offer a steady flow of insight into the author’s activities, thoughts, and ideas.

Author and NYT journalist Daniel Coyle (The Talent Code) blogs frequently on his site. In fact, his blog is front and center: it’s the main feature on the homepage. In addition to its frequency, Coyle integrates pictures and videos and has catchy post titles—“How to Spark Motivation? (Step One: Shut Your Mouth)”; “A Two-Minute Video That Might Change the Way Your Kid Thinks”; and “Best Parenting Tip Ever.”

Dan Ariely, (Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions) an author and professor, posts his “Ask Ariely” Q&A column from the Wall Street Journal to his blog. The questions are varied and Ariely’s responses are brief and interesting (he incorporates plenty of behavioral science research into his answers). The bottom line: Ariely blogs prolifically about his field of interest and expertise making the blog a must-read.

5) Having a “Rockstar” Testimonial: It’s always better to have other people talk about how great you are and author Richard Florida (The Rise of the Creative Class) hit the jackpot on this front. His homepage features a video clip of U2 front man Bono recommending Florida’s bestselling book to a panel that includes President Clinton. An endorsement from Bono? This is out of reach for most mere mortals but that shouldn’t discourage you from creating a page to highlight all the good things reviewers, experts, and others have said about your work.

6) Thinking Beyond Your Book: It’s important to have a “Books” page to showcase your backlist because every time you publish something new your other titles may get a boost. But non-fiction authors should think beyond their books and provide supplementary materials and information such as factsheets, tips, and guides. For this we like Jonathan Haidt’s (The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom) website. He has interesting and useful information sprinkled throughout the site but the “Beyond the Book” section includes extra material, including how to learn about your strengths; a list of Haidt’s favorite reading related to each chapter in The Happiness Hypothesis; and videos that illustrate principles in the book.

These are a few ideas to encourage you to think creatively about your website. Remember: small, incremental changes over time will yield big results in time. You don’t have to launch your website and perfect everything at once. Start small and build your site and presence over time.

Porter Gale and Guy Kawasaki at Commonwealth Club event for Your Network is Your Net Worth.

We did some editorial work for Porter Gale’s book Your Network Is Your Net Worth, published this June by Atria/Simon & Schuster. I was a fan when I was working on it, and I’m a bigger fan now that Porter has done such a masterful job of bringing this book to its fullest potential.

Porter’s book is so invigorating, smart, and approachable to a range of readers—not just self-promoters or people who love to network. It’s a wonderful step-by-step guide (packed with networking tips) for those of us who may be introverted or out of practice socially. I particularly recommend it to writers, creative entrepreneurs, designers—basically anyone planning to bring a book, product, online initiative, or artistic work to the public. I love this passage from the introduction:

“The old way to network involved climbing a ladder while pushing others down or to the side for individual benefit. The past was about competition, pursuit of materialism, and ‘keeping up with the Joneses.’ Networking all about your position in the game and the number of degrees on your resume or titles placed after your name. This process worked for some people, to be sure, but not for most. Thankfully, networking has evolved from a transactional game into a transformational process. It’s not just about ‘who you know,’ it’s about ‘who you are becoming as a person.’”

Among the many intuitive, but you’d-never-thought-of-this-way-by-yourself, networking tips and strategies are:

Give Give Get: Porter explains how you can help others professionally while not expecting anything in return, but knowing how to receive help or mentoring when it comes to you.

Shake It Up: This strategy focuses on the hidden benefits of making changes to your favorite routines (based in a positive mind set). Make minor shifts in daily routines such as where you get coffee or where you go on a Sunday afternoon in order to meet more people–and then take more dramatic steps.

Power Pockets: Porter stresses the importance of defining, finding, and participating in the particular places, events, and groups that accelerate your networking.

Build Out Your Core: Most of us undervalue and fail to understand the potential and power of our closest friendships and professional relationships—our core circle. We tend to take the allies we know the best for granted. Porter shows you how to break down the barriers that reduce the strength of these go-to relationships and instead focus on how core supporters can help you find new contacts to address weak spots in your professional life.

I don’t usually write up many of the books we work on—this book seems so particularly relevant to creative professionals in our time. Grab this one.

Book apps represent a new territory for authors. Our advice? Don’t be intimidated by this digital technology; an app is a new way to interact with your readers and one that augments the reading experience.

You know the stats: According to the Association of American Publishers, U.S. book
publishers brought in more revenue from e-books than hardcover books in the first
quarter of 2012—a first for the industry. What’s driving the e-book growth and
craze? Very simply, the explosion of the tablet and e-reader market. Former Morgan
Stanley analyst Mary Meeker’s highly regarded Annual Internet Trends Report (2012) noted that 29 percent of U.S. adults own a tablet or e-reader—up from two
percent less than three years ago. In 2011 alone, 48.3 million iPads, Android tablets
and e-readers were sold to U.S. consumers according to research by the NPD Group.

The growth of the tablet market brings new opportunities for book publishers with
one particular area ripe for exploration and experimentation: the app market. The
iTunes App Store alone has more than 660,000 apps, of which, 65,102 are primarily
for books. By all accounts, more people will use mobile/tablet platforms than PCs
making apps more relevant and mainstream.

How does this affect book publishers? They’re being pushed to become multimedia
companies by creating audio, video and interactive components for readers. Thus,
publishers are learning that apps are one way to sell content and reach an engaged
audience. Besides understanding app functionality, enhancements, pricing and
marketing, book publishing professionals must answer these questions:

Should a book become a dedicated app or an enhanced e-book?

Do these “immersion experiences” make people happy when they read their books?

Does it add value to the reading experience or does it get in the way of enjoying a book?

Not all books lend themselves to being converted to an app or an enhanced e-book
because of the time and resources required for such an exercise. However, many
books do and therein lies the opportunity and challenge for authors and publishers.

For authors, it’s hard not to be intimidated by apps. The ones highlighted in the
press are often by well-known authors whose publishing houses have dedicated
many resources to developing the app. However, an app doesn’t have to be fancy
with bells and whistles; it can be simple but it should be innovative and interactive
in some way. The reality is customers will demand interactive books that provide
a better and more informed and enriching experience. So authors, apps are here to
stay—it’s matter of deciding whether creating an app makes sense as a companion
piece for your book.

In the coming months, we’ll look at an array of book apps. Here are a few to spur
your thinking:

The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot: This app brings Elliot’s poem to life. The
iPad app, which costs $13.99 includes audio recordings of the poem and a
reading by Elliot himself and other literary luminaries. You can dissect the
poem by reading the many references and allusions with comprehensive and
interactive notes. There are also more than 35 expert video perspectives on
the poem and a picture gallery, which includes the original manuscript pages
where you can see how the poem took shape under editor Ezra Pound’s
hand.

Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham: One of the top-selling children’s books is
now an app. It promotes reading in young children because individual words
are highlighted as the story is read and words zoom up when pictures are
touched. The story is professionally narrated with background audio and
digital artwork for each scene. The iPad and iPhone app costs $3.99.

Al Gore—Our Choice: This iPhone and iPad app augments Al Gore’s bookOur Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, which examines the causes
of global warming and offers solutions that are currently being explored.
This app is an example of how interactivity can create an engaging and
fun learning experience because it combines infographics, animations,
documentary videos and images. Our Choice won the 2011 Apple Design
Award. It costs $4.99 to download.

It’s easy to lump all social networking sites together and devise a one-size-fits-all book marketing strategy. This is not advisable because when promoting your book, it’s more effective to identify tactics that lend themselves to specific social media sites. Sure they’ll be some overlap but each site is unique and has its strengths and weaknesses. So, in this post, we’ll focus on ways you can build momentum on your Facebook fan page. These tactics will require your time and energy but the pay off will be worth it.

Write content that reflects your personality and expertise. Unlike Linkedin, which has a professional focus or Twitter where you’re restricted by a word-count, your personality can really shine through on your Facebook page. Newsfeeds contain a lot of information so try to inject humor, passion, and insight in your content. However, Facebook is all about pacing yourself—post once a day or several times a week. Also try to mix up different update types—a status update, a link, a note, a photo, or a video update. Finally, don’t forget to update your profile picture or cover photo every six months; both images are a reflection of your personality and interests.

Connect with authors and other groups. There are more than 800 million users on Facebook so spend some time and research other authors you admire and book or writing-related groups. By becoming a fan of other groups, you’ll gain access to a potentially marketable community of readers and writers. Make sure you join discussions and observe what others are saying. You may be able to incorporate some insights into your marketing efforts. Also “like” other groups/authors’ pages because when you do, Facebook notifies the administrators of these pages. In return, some people may decide to like your page, which will expose your name to even more readers.

Enlist your friends and fans to help spread the word. Create a community of advocates to help promote your book. Two weeks before his book “Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition” was published, author and coach Michael Stelzner developed a photo contest on Facebook. Stelzner asked people to take a creative photo with the words, “Help Me Launch.” With only 50 Facebook fans when he started the promotion, that number grew to more than 1000 during the competition. Finally, 70 people submitted a creative photo. The winner received merchandise and a free coaching session from Stelzner.

Maintain a two-way dialogue with fans. Unlike other sites, it’s easier to build a relationship on Facebook. For example, if a fan posts that they liked your book, follow up and ask what specifically resonated with them. Encourage them to leave a comment or write a review. You can also ask fans for feedback: pose questions and seek their input in your decisions.

Create a video book trailer. A video book trailer is a powerful tool that can reach people in and out of your network (videos and photos will appear in your fan’s newsfeeds). They can be expensive to produce but all you need is a good idea, then tap into your network of friends for help or post an ad seeking help to film and edit your trailer. Chances are a budding student filmmaker can help you for a minimal amount.

Recently, Businessweek published an article on writing successful business books. What’s an up and coming publishing and communications consultant supposed to do? I lunged for it, curious about how an outsider sees this sub-industry and whether readers would need any guidance on what the piece said.

The article, “How to Write a Bestselling Business Book,” written by Eric Spitznagel, is to be commended for its clear prose, good interviews, and focus on how publishing has changed in the wake of the economic crisis. Certainly read it for the insights of major brand authors such as Jim Cramer and Seth Godin. I liked some of the tips Spitznagel proffers authors:

know the importance of brevity

realize that the days of big advances are mostly gone

grasp the reality that many bestselling business book authors arrange for astroturf book purchases to make the bestseller lists

pay attention to titling your book because your publisher will

write a book you’d like to read yourself (Cramer’s advice)

In the tip ‘Jack Up Your Klout score’, I thought Spitznagel overstated the value of social media visibility and equated it with the celebrity and visibility of a Jim Cramer. (A Klout score is the measurement of a person’s overall online influence.) Many successful authors aren’t television personalities or household names—consider bestsellers such as LeanStartup by Eric Reis or When Markets Collide by Mohamed El-Erian, published when I was at McGraw-Hill. El-Erian was a respected fund manager who was well-known in the finance pages but only really became a star after his book was published.

To become a bestselling author, Spitznagel wrote, “you need name recognition or an impressive Klout ranking…”.

This reminded me of a point I’ve wanted to make for some time. Yes, social media traffic and influence are important—but with limitations. With so many experts—including me—evangelizing online promotion and smart content marketing, authors can’t be blamed for thinking this is the whole ballgame now. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are very important for many reasons, but only in rare cases does a big Klout score really drive book sales. My advice: Authors, get your Klout score up, but keep your expectations modest–and do a social media reality check against your business or book goals.

I attended a 2012 BookExpo panel where the moderator said the iconic statement content is king is no longer true: content marketing is king. This comes down to creating and writing posts and Tweets and marketing them to larger and larger numbers of followers. What most marketing folks forget is how hard it is to consistently write well and have the research and knowledge to offer fresh insights. But if you want to get followers to share, click, and connect, you need better content marketing.

One of the most effective strategies for writers and thought leaders is to sign up for major blog platforms and post on topics relevant to that platform. In other words, to reach folks interested in a field, go to the biggest blogs in those fields and guest post. However, you’ll need to be serious about your post. Read what your target blog is posting on a daily basis, and peg your post to breaking, high-interest news. I remember when I wrote a post on business books and publishing for CBS BNet, a business news site. After the bin Laden operation, my editor asked me to write a column the next day about the books publishers should be pursuing about bin Laden in the wake of the successful May 2011 mission.

A related strategy is to tap into online influencers. Write about and interview the connectors, authors, and bloggers with major audiences in the social media and online space. For example, if you are in marketing, expert and author Guy Kawasaki has more than one million followers on Twitter. Write about Kawasaki’s big ideas, comments, books, or social media and link back to his website. You never know, some of Kawasaki’s followers and fans might find your post and ideas.

Many big blogs in the social and online media, marketing, and publishing space encourage guest posts, including, Copyblogger, Problogger, Social Media Examiner, Technorati, and ReadWriteWeb. Spend some time on these sites to get a sense of the tone and the kinds of stories they publish. When you’re ready, make these sites (or others you may have found in your research) part of your content marketing strategy. Look for more posts the next few weeks on content marketing!